Soft colors and textures offer a timeless grace in this elegant yet peaceful color palette that designer Phoebe Howard created based on her favorite colors. "I love the colors of the sky and water, perhaps because I grew up on the beach. It feels restful and calm, very peaceful," she says.

Designer: Phoebe Howard

Getting Started:

Use a ratio formula to help you put together a color scheme. Choose one main color to serve as 40-60 percent of your color palette, then one to two supporting colors to comprise 30-40 percent of your color palette, and fill the remainder with one to two accents. Thinking of color this way can help you determine how much of each color to use. Go to the next slide to see how this scheme breaks out.